Know Your Customer and Your Employee

Tim Harvey has maintained for years that the trends and patterns of fraud in the bi annual Report to the Nation from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, is generally mirrored in the UK and whilst this has previously been from anecdotal evidence this year’s Report to the Nations appears to prove him right.

This year the ACFE report is based on more than 1,843 case studies all investigated by Certified Fraud Examiners  in over one hundred countries on six continents and with over 40% of case studies coming from outside the US. And as the ACFE President James D Ratley points out “what is perhaps most striking about the data we gathered is how consistent the patterns of fraud are around the globe”.

The study is detailed and provides information on the cost of fraud, how it is committed, fraud schemes used, victim organisations and perpetrators.  Survey participant estimated that the typical organisation loses 5% of its annual revenue to fraud. Applied to the estimated Gross World Product, this figure translates to a potential total fraud loss of more than £2 ($2.9)trillion this estimate is based solely on the opinions of 1,843 anti-fraud experts, rather than any specific data or factual observations; accordingly, it should not be interpreted as a literal representation of the World wide cost of occupational fraud.

Asset misappropriation and Financial Statement fraud featured high on the findings making fraud prevention methods such as employee screening a must especially for small organisations that are disproportionately victimised by occupational fraud.

For over twenty years now the founder of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Joseph T. Wells has been emphasising the fact that “fraud knows no boundaries” and this global report reflects that fact. This report which has to be one of the most informative on fraud globally can be downloaded for free, complete with a Fraud Prevention Checklist from http://www.acfe.com/rttn/2010-rttn.asp  

Tim Harvey, CFE is the Director of UK Operations for ACFE. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners can provide training on all aspects of fraud from preventative measures to effectively investigating frauds that have been committed.

The ACFE was started 20 years ago by former FBI agent Joseph T. Wells and now has some 50,000 members in over 125 countries. They are the premier provider of anti fraud training and also administer the Certified Fraud Examiner CFE qualification.

For any further information please contact tharvey@acfe.com

• Show All Hot Topics

Member Comments

Sign in or join the community and be the first to leave a comment!